-Genesis-
The month passed quickly, with me spending so much time with April, Casey, and the turtles. Raph was still rude to me, a fact that bothered me immensely, especially since the others said he was ruder than usual to me. It annoyed me so much, because I thought there was something between us. Every time I saw him, my heart sped up, and it was hard not to stare. I could tell he felt it too; I was always catching him watching me. It was starting to piss me off how rude he was being though. I mean, honestly, had I done something to offend him? Had I said something? If I had, he needed to tell me, or get over it really quick. I had started to snap back at him, to everyone's surprise. Apparently, they all just ignored his comments. But I was from Texas, and you mess with the bull, you get the horns.
I closed the manhole cover behind me as I dropped into the sewers. I felt a little guilty for lying to my parents. I had told them I was going to stay with April, which wasn't a TOTAL lie, I mean, she would be there most of the time. Once I was in the lair, I went straight to the guestroom, and set my backpack down. The guys were in the dojo, so I headed that way. Inside, they were sparring. Master Splinter wasn't in there, so I knew it was for fun. Mikey, Donnie, and Leo all smiled when they saw me, while Raph turned his back to me. "Wanna spar with us?" Mikey asked. I opened my mouth to decline, when I met Raph's challenging gaze. "You know what, Mikey? Yeah, I do. But I want to spar against Raphael." Everyone's gaze darted to Raph. He narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going easy on you." He warned. "Good. I want an even fight." I retorted. He growled in response as Leo hastily paired everyone else up. "Go!" he shouted, and I ran at Raph, sliding between his legs and kicking his shell. He spun around, punching out at my shoulder. I dodged and slammed my knee into his plastron. He gritted his teeth, but said nothing. "What's wrong, Raph? Going soft?" I taunted, pulling back my arm to punch him. His hand closed over my fists as his eyes turned white, and he shoved me backwards. I yelped and stumbled, wind-milling my arms right before his foot connected with my nose.
~Genesis~
I stared in shock as Gen crumpled to the ground in front of me, clutching her nose. "Raph!" Leo yelled, running over to Gen. "WHAT THE FUCK, RAPH?" she screamed, clutching her nose. Donnie ran over and tried to pull her hands away. She shrugged him off and stood, unshed tears making her angry eyes shiny, as she yelled at me. "I know you don't like me, but seriously?! You KICKED me IN THE NOSE! Was it that big of an insult that I called you soft?" I opened my mouth to defend myself, but she cut me off. "No! You don't get to talk! You need to get over your problem with me, because I'm sick of your shit!" blood seeped from between her fingers. "What is going on here?" Sensei demanded from his room. Seeing Gen, he nodded to Donnie. "Help her clean up. Michelangelo, go with them." Mikey scurried out, and Donnie led Gen out, gently coaxing her hands away. Splinter stared after them for a moment before turning to us. "Why did you kick her, Raphael?" he asked, his gaze cold. "Sensei, I didn't mean to. We were sparring, and she called me soft, and…" I trailed off. "Let me guess, next thing you knew, she was on the ground, holding her nose?" He guessed. I growled at him. "Shut up, Leo. I didn't mean to hurt her!" Leo rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Oh, please. Raph, you've been rude to her almost since we've met her." I furrowed my brow. I hadn't meant to be rude. I honestly felt horrible for hurting her. Splinter stroked his beard. "So you're temper got away from you again?" he questioned. "No. Sensei, I wasn't angry at all." I said desperately. "Oh, so you just wanted to hurt her to prove you could? Nice, Raph." Leo scoffed. "NO! Get off my case, Leo! I would never intentionally hurt Gen." I defended myself. "It was an accident. I honestly thought she would duck in time. I never meant to hurt her…" I repeated. Splinter nodded. "I believe you, Raphael. But you need to go apologize to her." I groaned inwardly. Apologizing wasn't exactly my favorite thing. "Yes, Sensei." I bowed, and left, heading straight for the lab. I paused outside the door and took a deep breath.
My feelings for Gen hadn't gone away. In fact, they had gotten stronger. She had gotten better at fighting, and gave me as much hell as I gave her. She didn't let me mess with her, something I admired, but she was kind to my brothers, at the same time. She didn't seem to care that we were different than her.
I slid open the lab door and saw Donnie press a bag of frozen peas (which I'm pretty sure was just used as an ice pack, because we sure as hell never ate them) against her nose. She winced, and a couple tears rolled down her tan cheeks as guilt gnawed at my stomach. "How is she?" I asked Donnie, rubbing the back of my head. I kept my gaze away from her, too ashamed, as she looked at me. "Her nose isn't broken, so that's good, but it'll be bruised for about two days." He told me, throwing away bloody rags as he packed up his supplies. "Can I talk to Gen? Alone?" I asked. Donnie glanced at Gen, and she gave a small nod. "I'll be right outside if you need me." He said, walking past me. "Oh, um, thanks." I responded. He glared at me coldly. "I was talking to Gen." Damn, is this national "Hate Raph Day"? I thought as Donnie left, quietly sliding the door closed behind him.
"So?" she asked, her voice muffled. "Listen, I just wanted to say I'm sorry." I mumbled, staring at my feet. What is it about her that makes me so damn nervous? I thought. She scoffed. "Its hard to believe you mean that when you're staring at the ground and wont look at me." I dragged my gaze to meet hers, surprised to see cold anger in her beautiful brown eyes. "I'm sorry. I thought you would have reacted faster." I repeated myself. She narrowed her eyes. "So, this is my fault?" I shook my head vehemently. "No, no! That's not what I mean. I'm saying I shouldn't have assumed you were good enough to react and duck." She snorted in disgust. "Wow, Raph. Here I thought you were actually going to apologize." Shit, nice going Raph. Insult her. That totally always makes a girl forgive you. She slid off the table, and brushed past me angrily. "Wait, Gen!" I pleaded desperately. She whipped around to face me. "Why? So you can insult me more? Figure out you're problem, THEN come talk to me." She stormed out. Donnie came back in as I angrily stabbed the table with my Sai. "Damn it! I can't make her understand! I'm no good with- with" I spluttered. "Words?" Donnie supplied. I glared at him. "Sorry, Raph. Wish I could help. But I have my own April problems." I yanked my Sai out of the table "Just give up already, Donnie! They're never going to like us!" I snapped. Donnie looked crushed for a moment, before it was replaced by confusion. "What do you mean 'they're never going to like us'?" he asked. "You know. Humans. They won't like mutants in that way." I tried to cover up my mistake. Donnie shook his head. "You made it sound way more personal." He picked up Gen's makeshift ice pack, looked at it with a sudden realization, then turned to me grinning. "You like Genesis." he accused me. "What? No." I denied, crossing my arms. He kept grinning at me smugly. "Shut up." I snapped, storming out as he cackled behind me.
-Genesis-
I. Was. PISSED. My nose hurt, and Raph's "apology" had confused me more than made me feel better. Why can't he just like me the way I like him? I sighed in frustration as I flopped down on my bed in the guestroom. There was a knock on my door and I groaned. "Go away, Raph!" I heard the door creak open, and I flipped over, throwing a pillow.
Leo stood in the doorway, and easily caught it. I blushed. "Oops. Sorry, Leo. I thought you were Raph." Leo chuckled. "I'd watch out if I were him. Pillows are highly dangerous." He said seriously, as he sat on the edge of the bed. I playfully pushed his shoulder. "Did the great Leonardo just make a JOKE?" I teased. He ignored my comment. "How's your nose?" he asked gently. "Purple and sore." I mumbled. "Donnie told me you and Raph 'talked.' Do you want to tell me?" he asked carefully. "No." I grumbled. Leo patted my hand. "Your choice. If you want to talk, I'm here. April is coming over. Are you coming downstairs or do you want me to send her up here?" I turned my head. "I honestly don't want to be in the same room as Raph right now, plus my nose looks really gross, so I'll stay up here if that's okay." He nodded, and then laughed. "Donnie is gonna be jealous of you pretty soon." I cracked a small smile. "Oops. He could always walk her home." I offered. Yelling from downstairs interrupted our conversation. The pounding of footsteps headed our way, and the door burst open. April stood there, bent over, panting. "Donnie told me… Raph… is a jerk." She gasped for air, as Leo edged out. April looked at me sympathetically. "Tell me what happened." She demanded.
I ranted to her, angrily. "I don't understand why he can't just like me." I ended, covering my face with a pillow. "Whoa, whoa. Back up. You like RAPH?" she asked. I peeked out from under the pillow. "Er. Yeah?" I admitted, blushing. She took the pillow away and stared at me. "We're talking about the same Raph, right? Hamato Raphael? About this tall, wears a red mask, needs anger management? Oh, and HE KICKED YOU IN THE NOSE!" she ended, hitting me with the pillow. I giggled, then bit my lip and shrugged. "That's the one. I can't help it. There's something about him." April shook her head in disbelief. "I don't understand you. You do realize you don't have to like him because he saved you, right?" I rolled my eyes. "I know." She blinked at me. "You're s strange. But enough about Raph. So you know how school starts next month?" I groaned. "Don't remind me." She patted my knee. "I know what you mean. Anyway, one of the guys on Casey's hockey team is throwing a costume party this week. Do you want to go?" she asked hopefully. I nodded. "Definitely. That sounds great. What should we go as?"
We brainstormed costume ideas until we had both decided what we would go as. "Ugh. That took forever." She groaned, lying on her back. I nodded in agreement, and then laughed. "Its probably really easy for the turtles on Halloween. Do you think we should invite them?" She thought about it. "Yeah, let's go ask. They need to have some fun." She hopped off the bed, and I scrambled after her.
The guys were watching Space Heroes, and Leo turned it off once he noticed us. "Hey. What's up?" April smiled excitedly. "Do you four want to come to a party with us?" All four shot out of their seats. "Aw, yeah." Mikey cheered. Donnie high-threed Raph. Leo frowned. "Wait, we can't Nobody is supposed to see us." The others groaned. "It's a costume party." I piped up, from behind April, smiling. They all cheered again, except Mikey. "WAIT! We don't have costumes." He frowned. We all stared at Mikey, and Raph smacked him upside the head. "We're mutant turtles. We don't need costumes, shellbrain." He snapped.
What are the two of you going as?" Donnie asked curiously. April slapped a hand over my mouth. She smirked at the guys, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "You'll have to wait and see."
